PSEi retreats on MSCI rebalancing, foreign selling

Philippine share prices retreated on Monday after the rebalancing of stocks in the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Philippines index and the biggest net foreign selling in six weeks.

The main PSEi lost 52.97 points or 0.68% to close at 7,771.62. The broader All Shares dropped 25.50 points or 0.55% to 4,653.54.

Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan attributed the drop primarily to the MSCI rebalancing.

MSCI Philippines is an index designed to measure the performance of large and midcap segments of the Philippine market.

It covers 23 stocks, which represent about 85% of the Philippine equities market.

Foreign funds bought P2.276 billion of shares during the session and sold P3.352 billion for a net selling position of P1.075 billion.

“It was the biggest net foreign selling in six weeks ... So it did weigh on sentiment,” Limlingan noted.

More than 1.039 billion shares, valued at P4.677 billion, changed hands. Decliners led advancers, 118 to 68, and 46 issues were unchanged.

There was also news from the US-China trade talks which the market ignored.

“Philippine shares closed lower after investors shrugged off positive comments on a trade deal by President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and a better than expected set of flash PMIs,” Limlingan said.

Over the weekend, US national security adviser Robert O’Brien said an initial trade agreement with China is still possible by 2019.

He warned, however, that Washington would not turn a blind eye on ongoing tensions in Hong Kong. —VDS, GMA News